WARM-UP What do you know about the Middle Passage?

They felt the sea-wind tying them into one nation of eyes and shadows and groans, in the one pain that is inconsolable, the loss of one’s shore. They had wept, not for their wives only, their fading children, but for strange, ordinary things. This one, who was a hunter wept for a sapling lance whose absent heft sang in his palm’s hollow. One, a fisherman, for an ocher river encircling his calves; one a weaver, for the straw fisherpot he had meant to repair, wilting in water. They cried for the little thing after the big thing. They cried for a broken gourd. —Derek Walcott, Omeros

The Age of European Exploration and Colonization Western European countries expand during 15th century Explore, conquer, and colonize Trade Eastern markets of India, China, and Japan New World Demand for laborers led to Atlantic slave trade

The Slave Trade in Africa Ancient and universal phenomena African kingdoms and Islamic nations conduct a trade commerce (business) Not race based Arab merchants and West African kings imported white slaves from Europe West African slave trade dealt mainly in women and children who would serve as concubines and servants European demand for agricultural laborers changed slave trading patterns

The Origins of the Atlantic Slave Trade In 15th century, slaves used as domestic servants on Iberian Peninsula (Spain & Portugal) Other European countries had large work forces and little need for slaves Purchased from African traders Portugal and Spain dominated slave trade in 16th century Dutch dominated 17th century English dominated 18th century

Bronze Sculpture West African artists recorded the appearance of Europeans who came to trade in gold, ivory, and human beings. This Benin bronze relief sculpture, dating to the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, portrays two Portuguese men.

Growth of the Atlantic Slave Trade Demand for labor in 16th century Spanish gold and silver mines Portuguese sugar plantations Tobacco, rice and indigo

Estimated Annual Exports of Slaves from Western Africa to the Americas, 1500–1700

Estimated Slave Imports by Destination, 1451–1870 Does this surprise you?

The Atlantic and Islamic Slave Trades Not until 1600 did the Atlantic slave trade reach the proportions of the Islamic slave trade. This map shows the principal sources of slaves, primary routes, and major destinations.

Growth of the Atlantic Slave Trade (cont.) Harsher in the Americas Based on race Most were males Believed they were stronger laborers than females West African women did farm work Often withheld from trade Agricultural workers Chattel (Property) Lost rights as human beings

Slave Colonies of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries This map indicates regions in North America, the West Indies, and South America that had, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, significant populations of enslaved people of African descent.

Luanda The Portuguese established the city of Luanda in 1575. This eighteenth-century print portrays the city when it was at its height as a center for the shipment of enslaved Africans to Brazil.

Growth of the Atlantic Slave Trade (cont.) Triangle trade and profits Slave, tobacco, and sugar profits funded Industrial Revolution

Atlantic Trade Among the Americas, Great Britain, and West Africa During the 17th and 18th centuries Often referred to as a triangular trade, this map shows the complexity of early modern Atlantic commerce, of which the slave trade was a major part.

Capture Slavery: byproduct of war between kingdoms European traders provided firearms Did not instigate fighting

Late-Eighteenth-Century Drawing In this late-eighteenth-century drawing, African slave traders conduct a group of bound captives from the interior of Africa toward European trading posts.

Capture (cont.) High mortality Slave Forts or “Factories” served as Exhaustion, suicide, murder Long, forced marches from interior to coast Slave Forts or “Factories” served as Headquarters for traders Warehouses for trade goods Pens or dungeons for captives

The Crossing Canary Islands to the Windward Islands 40 to 180 days to reach the Caribbean Pirates attacked Spanish ships Frightening experience This journey was known as the “Middle Passage”

The Slavers Small and narrow ships Two slaves per ship-tonnage formula Most captains were “tight packers” Ignored formula in the name of profits

The Slavers (cont.) Crowded, unsanitary conditions Slaves rode on planks 66” x 15” only 20”– 25” of headroom Males chained together in pairs Kept apart from women and children High mortality rates One-third perish between capture and embarkation

British Slave Ship Plan of the British Slave Ship Brookes, 1788. This plan, which may undercount the human cargo the Brookes carried, shows how tightly Africans were packed aboard slave ships.

A Slave’s Story Olaudah Equiano Writes autobiography of his capture/voyage Conditions Suicides Smells Feedings

A Captain’s Story John Newton Evangelical Christian Slaver captain Anglican priest Repentance Amazing Grace

Provisions for the Middle Passage Slaves fed twice per day Poor and insufficient diet Vegetable pulps, stews, and fruits Denied meat or fish Ten people eating from one bucket Unwashed hands spread disease Malnutrition, weakness, depression, death

Sanitation, Disease, and Death Astronomically high before 1750 Poor sanitation No germ theory prior to early 20th century Malaria, yellow fever, smallpox, dysentery After 1750 Faster ships Hygiene and diet better understood Early forms of smallpox vaccinations

Resistance and Revolt at Sea Uprisings were common Most rebellions before sailing Some preferred death to bondage Justification for harsh treatment by slavers

Cruelty Middle passage horrors exaggerated? Some historians claim disease was main killer, not overcrowding Cultural context (acceptable ideas of treatment) Exceptionally cruel Slaves had half the space allowed indentured servants and convicts Slavery suitable only for non-Christians Brutal treatment by crew members

Africans on Slave Ships This nineteenth-century drawing suggests how closely packed together were Africans on slave ships and how young many of them were.

African Women on Slave Ships Less protection against unwanted sexual attention from European men African women worth half the price of African men in the Caribbean markets Separation from male slaves made them easier targets Middle passage horrors depressed sex drives

Landing and Sale in the West Indies Pre-sale Bathed and exercised Oiled bodies to conceal blemishes and bruises Hemp plugs

Nineteenth-Century Engraving This nineteenth-century engraving suggests the humiliation Africans endured as they were subjected to physical inspections before being sold.

British Board of Trade listing of slaves sold in Barbados between 1707 and 1708

Seasoning Modify behavior and attitude Preparation for North American planters

Seasoning (cont.) Creoles Old Africans New Africans slaves born in the Americas worth three times price of unseasoned Africans Old Africans Lived in the Americas for some time New Africans Had just survived the middle passage Creoles and Old Africans instruct New Africans

Slaves Preparing a Field Slaves in this nineteenth-century painting are preparing a field for cultivation on the island of Antigua, a British possession in the West Indies. As had been the case in earlier centuries, the men and women work in gangs under the direction of a white overseer who carries a whip.

End of the Journey Survival Adapted to new foods One-third died Men died at a greater rate than women Adapted to new foods Learned a new language Creole dialect well enough to obey commands Psychological - no longer suicidal Africans retained culture despite the hardships and cruel treatment Created bonds with shipmates that replaced blood kinship

Scenes on a Cotton Plantation

Slaves Arriving in the West Indies This print, published in 1793, portrays a group of Africans who arrived during the 1720s in Suriname, in northern South America. Although the artist creates a festive scene, a slave trader is driving them with a stick. This group of Africans newly arrived in the West Indies in the 1700s to be sold as slaves would be subjected to the seasoning process by their new masters.

The Ending of the Atlantic Slave Trade Cruelties help end Atlantic slave trade English abolitionists Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce, and Granville Sharp Moral crusade and economy less dependent on slave trade Great Britain bans Atlantic slave trade in 1807 Patrols African coast to enforce United States Congress outlaws slave trade in 1808 Guinea and western central African kingdoms oppose banning slave trade

East African slaves aboard the Daphne, a British Royal Navy vessel

Rescued slaves crowd the deck of the HMS Daphne.

Conclusion More than eleven million Africans brought to the Americas during three centuries of trade Millions more died Most arrived between 1701 and 1810 Only 500,000 reached the British colonies of North America

Underwater sculpture, in Grenada, in honor of our African Ancestors who were thrown overboard the slave ships during the Middle Passage of the African Holocaust. --Artist, Jason DeCaires Taylor

A replica of the slaves awaiting sale at the Slave Market A replica of the slaves awaiting sale at the Slave Market. Below the Anglican Church in Zanzibar near the Slave Market.